descriptive account of the collection of chinese, tibetan

.r-«f^-.-.'.;rsr4!!:';

Newberry LibraryDescriptive account of the

collection of Chinese, Tibetan,

Mongol, and Japanese books inthe Newberry library

Presented to the

LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

from

the estate of

PROF. W.A.C.H. DOBSON

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

Microsoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/descriptiveaccouOOnewbuoft

PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

Number 4

WOODCUT FROM THE ISE MONOGATARI "TALES OF ISE," AROMANCE OF THE TENTH CENTURY, FROM THE EDITIONOF i6o8, ONE OF THE EARLIEST SPECIMENS OF JAPANESEWOOD-ENGRAVING.

aDESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF

THE COLLECTION OF CHINESE, TIBETAN,

MONGOL, AND JAPANESE BOOKS IN

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

Berthold Laufer, Ph.D.

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARYCHICAGO, ILLINOIS

CoFYWOHT 1 91 3 By

The Newberry Library

Published May 191

3

TRUSTEES OF THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

Charter Members, April 13, 1892

Hon. George E. AdamsMr. Edward E. Ayer Resigned, January 3, 191

1

Mr. Eliphalet W. Blatchford. .

Mr. William Harrison Bradley Resigned, May 20, 1901

Mr. Daniel Goodwin Resigned, November 7, 1898

Mr. Franklin H. HeadHon. Edward S. Isham Died, February 16, 1902

Gen. Alexander C. McClurg. . .Died, April 15, 1901

Hon, Franklin MacVeagh Resigned, February 27, 1896

Gen. Walter C. Newberry Died, July 20, 191

2

Hon. Lambert Tree Died, October 9, 1910

Mr. Henry J. Willing Died, September 28, 1903

Mr. John P. Wilson

Mr. Bryan Lathrop Elected, June i, 1896

Mr. George Manierre Elected, December 5, 1898

Mr. Moses J. Wentworth Elected, Jime 3, 1901

Mr. Horace H. Martin Elected, November 4, 1901

Mr. David B. Jones Elected, May 5, 1902

Mr. John A. Spoor Elected, January 11, 1904

Mr. John P. Wilson, Jr Elected, January 3, 1911

Mr. Edward L. Ryerson Elected, March 6, 191

1

OFFICERS

President

Eliphalet W. Blatchford

First Vice-President Second Vice-President

George E. Adams Horace H. Martin

Secretary and Financial Agent

Jesse L. Moss

Librarian

William N. C. Carlton, M.A.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Woodcut from the Ise Monogatari, edition of 1608.

Frontispiece.

2. Page from the Manchu Commentary of the Four

Canonical Books composed by the Emperor K^ang-hi

in 1677. Facing p. 4.

3. First page of a volume of the Tibetan Kanjur,

Narthang edition. Facing p. 7.

4. Page from a volume of the Buddhist Tripitaka.

Between pp. 12 and 13.

5. Two pages from the T^ang Liu sien sheng wen tsi,

printed in 1167. Between pp. 30 and 31.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The following brief sketch of the East Asiatic Collection in

the Newberry Library was prepared by Dr. Laufer at the

request of the Library authorities. His extensive knowledge

of Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan antiquities, art, history,

and literature, together with the fact that he himself

had gathered the books and manuscripts, marked him as

pecuharly well fitted to describe the character and contents

of the Collection and to indicate the range and degree of its

usefulness to sinologues and all others whose studies require

access to such material as this Collection comprises.

W. N. C. C.

IZ

EAST ASIATIC COLLECTION

In 1907, in connection with an expedition to be undertaken

on behalf of the Field Museum, I was commissioned by the

Trustees of the Newberry Library to gather for them a

representative collection of East Asiatic works on subjects

falling within the field in which that Library specializes, viz.,

religion, philosophy, history, belles-lettres, philology, and

art.' The result of this commission was the purchase of

1,216 works in 21,403 volumes. Although a fair and solid

foundation, it should not be presumed that any section of

this collection can be designated as really complete, in view

of the inexhaustible wealth of Oriental literatures, and

Chinese in particular; but so much has been attained by

including the majority of all important works that the

student will be able to carry on serious and profound

research work in any of the branches of knowledge enumer-

ated, and it may therefore be considered a truly representa-

tive collection of the Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan, and

Mongol literatures.

As to language, the Japanese is represented by one

hundred and forty-three works, Tibetan by three hundred

and ten, Mongol by seventy-two, Manchu by sixty; the rest

are in Chinese which is the most extensive and important

literature of the East, and the one from which the light of

the others radiates. There are eighteen manuscripts, all

unpublished and deserving of publication. Of early printed

^ At the same time, a corresponding commission was given me by the Directors

of the John Crerar Library to collect for them Oriental works on geography, law,

and administration, trade, industries, national economy, sociology, agriculture,

mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences.


books there are two fine works printed in the Sung period,

dated 1167 and 11 72 respectively, one of the Yiian or

Mongol dynasty (thirteenth century), forming indisputable

proof of the Chinese having antedated Gutenberg by

centuries; and fifty-seven from the Ming period (1368-

1644), with such early dates as 1395, 1447, 1453, 1467, 1504,

1558, etc.

The Japanese collection was made only incidentally during

a short trip from Peking to Tokyo. Its main object was to

search for editions of Chinese works which can no longer be

found in China, and to secure a collection of books fairly

representative of Japanese art, in which there is at present

such a live and inteUigent interest in this country. As I

made at the same time a collection of Japanese color prints

for the Field Museum, it was thought a fit occasion to secure

for the Newberry Library, for the benefit of our art students

and collectors, a selection of illustrated books bearing on

this interesting subject and its history. I purchased in this

connection the works of Hokusai, Kimiyoshi, Kyosai, as far

as pubHshed in book form, many of them in original editions,

color reproductions of the painter Kano Tanyu (1602-1674),

the Masterpieces of Thirty Great Painters of Japan, and the

works of Ogata Korin (1661-1716) pubHshed by the Shimbi

Shoin in Tokyo, and numerous other volumes relating to

manners and customs, arts and crafts, costume, textiles,

gardening, flower arrangement, architecture, swords, armor,

and antiquities, many of them in eighteenth-century

editions. There are also several manuscripts on archery,

and books on tea, the tea-ceremonies, on the Shinto reHgion

and the objects of its cult. It is hoped that this collection

will prove useful to art-designers and art students. Most of

the useful books published by the firm Hakubunkwan in


Tokyo were procured. Among these are eight works on

Buddhism in sixteen volumes, and the most extensive

catalogue of Japanese Hterature, the Kokushokaidai, in

twenty-six volumes, 1897-1900. From the viewpoint of the

development of printing in Japan, the early edition of the

novel Ise Monogatari, "Tales of Ise'' (No. 232), is most

interesting. This edition was printed in 1608 during the

period Keicho and represents the earliest specimen of a

Japanese printed and illustrated book. Unfortunately I

was able to obtain only the second of the two volumes of

which the work consists. W. G. Aston (A History of

Japanese Literature, p. 84) characterizes it as "block-printed

on variously-tinted paper, and adorned with numerous full-

page illustrations which are among the very earUest speci-

mens of the wood-engraver's art in Japan." B. H.

Chamberlain {Things Japanese, p. 435) defines it as "the

earHest illustrated book at present known" (see also E. F.

Strange, Japanese Illustration, p. 2). An example from the

woodcuts of this book is here reproduced as the frontispiece.

The Japanese collection also contains seven very inter-

esting manuscript volumes from the colossal work Gun-

shoruiju (No. 239), by Hanawa Hokiichi (1746-1821), a

famous Htt6rateur who grew blind in his seventh year, lost

his mother shortly afterward, and was brought up by a

Buddhist monk. He first studied music and acupuncture,

but later found his proper field in the study of Japanese

antiquities and literature. In 1782 he published the

collection of rare and ancient works above mentioned which

consisted of 2,805, according to others of 1,821 volumes, and

is said to have remained in manuscript. The seven volumes

in the Newberry collection comprise the Index volume,

which will be valuable in studying the contents of the work,


and Vols. 66, 214, 494, 503 a, 503 6, 503 c. Another inter-

esting work is an old illustrated edition in forty-one volumes

of the famous novel Taiheiki, by Kojima who died in 1374,

on which Aston (I.e., pp. 169 et seq.) gives a great deal of

information. A fine manuscript, dated 1804, containing

eighteen water-color sketches, illustrates the gradual stages

in donning the parts of a coat of mail by a Diamyo.

In Manchu literature, Chicago has one of the richest

collections in existence, including as it does many rare early

editions, unique Palace editions, and manuscripts for

imperial use, of whose existence nothing had before been

known. When I pubUshed a sketch of Manchu hterature

in 1908, I was under the impression that I had made as

complete a survey of the subject as possible; now I am able

to make a series of important additions which will show the

character of this literature in a new light. As I expect to

publish these notes before long, I need only say here that the

majority of Manchu and Manchu-Chinese biHngual prints

catalogued in my sketch are now in the Newberry Library.

Among the unique works of which no other copies are known

may be mentioned a Commentary to the Four Classical

Books {Se sJiu) composed in Manchu by the Emperor

K^ang-hi in twenty-six quarto volumes, the Palace edition

of 1677 (No. 639); a Manchu commentary to the classical

Book of Mutations, Yi king, by the same monarch, in

eighteen quarto volumes, the Palace edition of 1683 (No.

692); and a commentary to the ancient Book of History,

Shu king, written by the Emperor K4en-lung in thirteen

volumes of the same size. Palace edition of 1754 (No. 564).

These three works seem never to have been placed on the

book-market and to have come out of the Palace in conse-

quence of the panic following the death of the Emperor

PAGE FROM THE MANCHU COMMENTARY OF THE FOUR CANONI-CAL BOOKS COMPOSED BY THE EMPEROR K^^ANG-HI IN 1677.


and the Empress-Dowager in the autumn of 1908. It was a

curious circumstance that just at that time, for a few weeks,

the Peking book-market was flooded with rare Manchu books

for sale to foreigners; the Chinese are certainly no customers

for Manchu literature. Mention may be, further, made of

a Palace edition of the philosopher Meng-tse (No. 703), in

Manchu only, without the Chinese version; the Manchuaccount of the War against Galdan, 1709 (No. 710); the

Yooni bithe (Nos. 690 and 693), the oldest Manchu diction-

aries of 1682 and 1687; Collection of Words from 120 Old

Men (see Laufer, Sketch of Manchu Literature, p. 19), a

valuable manuscript in eight volumes, written in 1709, and

a number of other unedited manuscripts; a Palace edition

of 1 741 of the Four Classical Books {Se shu) in Manchu only

(No. 559); and a complete edition of the Genealogies of the

Mongol and Turkish Princes in Chinese, Manchu, and

Mongol (Nos. 563 and 574, seventy-two vols., quarto.

Palace edition); the Manchu translation of the historical

work Tung kien kang mu (No. 573), which is discussed in the

report on Chinese history, a great rarity, in the Palace

edition of 1681 in ninety-six volumes; the Ritual of the

Manchu Dynasty, written in Manchu, illustrated with

wood-engravings describing the objects of the cult, Palace

edition of 1747 (see Laufer, Sketch of Manchu Literature,

pp. 39-40); the Ku wen yilan kien (No. 592), an excellent

work containing historical extracts and selections in Manchufrom the Tso-chuan down to the writers of the Han and Sung

dynasties. Palace edition of 1685 in thirty-six volumes; a

collection of Buddhist charms and prayer formulas {dhdranl)

in Chinese, Manchu, and Tibetan (No. 783) in ten volumes, a

splendidly printed book with fine large folded wood-

engravings executed in the Palace exclusively for imperial


use during the K4en-lung period (i 736-1 795). In view of

the recent overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, it is the more

gratif3dng to have become heirs to their Hterary bequest,

and to have saved, in the interest of the future historian, so

many important monuments inspired by the Hterary zeal

and activity of its illustrious rulers. The time is sure to

come when this subject will become one of primary

importance for research.

Tibetan books were acquired during three different stages

of my expedition, first in DarjeeHng and during a journey in

Sikkim where books printed in the monasteries of either

Sikkim or southern Tibet were secured; secondly in Peking

where I gathered all Tibetan and Mongol books, so far as

still available, issued from the press near the temple Sung-

chu-sze;=' and thirdly, during a journey in eastern Tibet, in

the Tibetan states of Sze-ch*^uan, and in Kansu and the

Kukunor region. The richest harvest was obtained in the

ancient monastery of Derge in eastern Tibet. Tibetan

Hterature has had but Uttle attention thus far from scholars,

and our knowledge of it is still very scanty. The elaboration

of a bibUography remains a work for the future. The hsts

of Tibetan books pubHshed by some European libraries

usually give no more than the mere titles or are meagre

in contents and not entirely reliable. The only serious

bibliographical attempt is Csoma's analysis of the two

collections of the Kanjur and Tanjur^ Copies of both are

now in Chicago, in the edition printed in 1742 at the

monastery of Narthang near Trashilhunpo in central Tibet.

' A description of the activity of this printing establishment will be found in

my Sketch of Mongol Literature.

J Published in Asiatic Researches, Vol. XX, Calcutta, 1836. French transla-

tion, with indices, by L. Feer, in Annales du MusSe Guimet, Vol. II. Of P. Cordier's

new work, Index to the Tanjur, the first part has appeared (Paris, 1909).


The copy in question had been brought by the Dalai Lamafrom Lhasa to Peking. The Narthang edition has sometimes

been described as inferior in make-up. This opinion is

largely based on the poor condition of the copy in the Royal

Library of Berlin; the reason why this copy is difficult to

read is because it was struck off on bad and thin paper.

The Newberry copy of the Kanjur, however, is printed on a

good quahty of strong Tibetan paper and perfectly clear and

legible."* It all depends upon the kind of paper, as can be

proved from several practical examples, good and bad, read-

able and illegible copies of the same work being printed from

the same blocks; the different results are due to the differ-

ent grades of paper used. I am informed by several Tibetan

Lamas that the Narthang edition is considered by far the

best of all, from the viewpoint of textual criticism; it

certainly contains far fewer mistakes than the red-printed

imperial editions of Peking, and continuous reading of it is

much easier, as the vermiHon color of the Peking issues is

a great strain on the eye. Nor are the red-printed editions

the ideal thing for another reason, viz., the color is liable to

fade; in the St. Petersburg copy I have come across manyfoHos where the lettering had faded to a pale white.

The KanjurJwhich means "Translation of the Word"

(i.e., of Buddha), is the adopted canon of the sacred writings

of Buddhism translated into Tibetan mostly from the

original Sanskrit texts by a trained staff of Buddhist monks

from the ninth to the thirteenth century. A few translations

go back to the latter part of the seventh century, the time

of the first introduction of Buddhism into Tibet; some have

< Tibetan books are not kept in stock, and have no ready-made editions.

The blocks for the Kanjur and Tanjur are kept under lock and key in a certain

hall of the temple. A copy is printed only when ordered, and requires a permit

from the Abbot. There is also but one printing season a year.


been made also from Chinese and from the Turkish language

of the Uighur in which, as we now know from discoveries

made in Turkistan, a translation of the Buddhist scriptures

existed. On the other hand, the interesting fact has been

brought to light by F. W. K. Miiller that the Tibetan version

played a prominent role in the composition of the Chinese

Tripitaka which contains a number of terms to be explained

only from Tibetan. The Tibetan translations are almost

literal and prepared with a great deal of care and accuracy,

and as most of the Sanskrit originals are lost, they become a

primary authentic source for the study of Buddhism; even

in those cases where the Sanskrit texts are preserved, the

Tibetan documents always provide considerable assistance

in making out the correct Sanskrit reading and facilitating

understanding. To one equally versed in Tibetan and

Sanskrit and familiar with Buddhistic style and termi-

nology, it is even possible successfully to restore the Sanskrit

original from the reading of the Tibetan text. The vast

stores of this collection have in part been repeatedly ran-

sacked by scholars interested in the history of Buddhism.

A. Schiefner and L. Feer have extracted from its pages a

large number of Buddhist legends and stories; the Hon.

W. W. Rockhill has skilfully utiUzed it for a reconstruction

of a life of Buddha, and some texts even 5delded to him

material for a history of Khotan. But the bulk of its

contents still remains unstudied; many parts, e.g. the

Vinaya containing the discipHne or rules for the orders

of the monks, should be translated intact. A task of the

first order, the literary history of the collection, remains to

be done. This would require a comparative study of all the

existing editions. We now know that there are different

editions of the Kanjur varying in contents and illustrations,


and in the arrangement of the matter,^ and that these

differences have sprung up from the midst of different sects.

As in China and Japan, so also in Tibet, Buddhism does not

form an harmonious unity, but is split up into various sects

which came into being at various times and are often bitterly

antagonistic to each other, not only on religious but also on

poKtical grounds. Only by a thorough investigation of the

history of these various sectarian formations can we ever

hope to penetrate into the mystery of the history of

Lamaism. The history of the collections embodied in the

Kanjur can be fully understood through the history of the

sects only, and the latter subject will shed new light again

on the formation of the Canon. Each work in it has had

a long and varied life-history, having been translated,

corrected, revised, re-edited, and commented upon manytimes, and this subject is still a terra incognita. What is

required, therefore, is a critical concordance of the various

sectarian editions of the Kanjur j the Hterary history of which

is recorded in their lengthy prefaces, and finally also a

collation of the works of the Tibetan with those in the

Chinese Tripitaka, a Tibeto-Chinese concordance.

The bulk of Tibetan literature is of a religious Buddhistic

character, but it would be erroneous to believe that it is

all secondary matter derived from Indian sources. Native

authors have developed a fertile Hterary talent and produced

a quantity of literature relating to theology, logic, meta-

physics, rhetoric, grammar, lexicography, medicine, poetry,

and history. Tibetan writers have preserved to us the

history of India for periods where Indian history presents a

s Compare Laufer in T'^oung Poo, 1908, p. 8; and Die Kanjur-Ausgabe des

Kaisers K<:ang-hsi {Bulletin de VAcad6mie des sciences de St. Pitersbourg, 1909,

pp. 567-74).

10 THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

perfect blank. The poems and legends of Milaraspa are a

fascinating production of Tibetan poetic imagination; his

works and his biography, in the original Tibetan as well as

in the Mongol translations, are to be found in the Newberry

Library; also the voluminous literature crystallized around

Padmasambhava, the great apostle from Udyana who

played a role of great consequence in the estabUshment of

Lamaism in Tibet during the eighth century. "Collected

works'' of individual authors occupy a prominent place in

Lamaist literature. Of all the Dalai Lamas, the Pan-chen

rin-po-che, the Metropolitans (Chutuktu) of Peking, and

other high church-dignitaries, vast collections of their

personal writings embracing all departments of literature

have been made, forming a substantial and valuable part of

native erudition; a great many of these works, of extraor-

dinary extent and importance, were secured for the New-

berry Library. There are also in the collection beautiful

Tibetan books printed at the imperial press of Peking

under the reigns of the Emperors K^ang-hi (1662-1722) and

K4en-lung (i 736-1 795), as well as some fine specimens of

manuscript work in gold and silver writing. Especially

noteworthy is an ancient and splendid copy, written in

silver on a black polished background, of the famous work

Mdni Kamhum (No. 826), in its main portions traceable to

the seventh century, written in glorification of the god

Avalokitegvara who incarnates himself in the Dalai Lamas,

and containing the laws of the first historical Tibetan

king, Srong-btsan-sgam-po of the seventh century. Thecopying of sacred books is considered a great religious

merit; writing in vermilion insures a higher merit than

ordinary writing with black ink, while silver and gold

writing surpass both.


In connection with the Buddhistic Hterature of Tibet, the

Chinese Tripitaka may be mentioned in this place. It is

the corresponding Chinese version of the sacred writings of

the Buddhist Canon, embracing approximately two thousand

works of dogmatic, metaphysical, and legendary character

translated from the Sanskrit. The edition in the Newberry

Library was formerly preserved in a temple at Wu-ch'^ang

and is that known under the designation of the Buddhist

Canon of the Ts^ng or Manchu dynasty {Ta losing San

tsang king). Until 972 A.D. the Chinese Canon was pre-

served in manuscript only; in that year, it was printed for

the first time by order of the Emperor T^ai-tsu. Thereafter

it was printed repeatedly from wooden blocks which were as

often destroyed by fire or in the course of wars. During the

Sung and Yiian dynasties (960-1367 A.D.) as many as

twenty different editions are said to have been issued, but

all of them perished in the catastrophe marking the downfall

of the Mongols. A few copies of editions coming down from

the Ming period have survived in some temples of northern

China; one printed in the Yung-lo period (1403-1424), and

preserved in a monastery of Shansi Province and alleged to

be complete, was once offered to me for ten thousand

Mexican dollars. But the K4en-lung Palace edition in

the Newberry collection is certainly just as satisfactory.

The plan of this publication was drafted in 1735 by the

Emperor Yung-cheng, and on his death in the same year,

taken up in 1736 by his son and successor, the Emperor

K4en-lung. The printing of the entire work extended over

three years and was completed at the end of 1738. The

printing blocks are still preserved in the temple Po-lin-sze,

situated east of the Great Lama Temple in Peking.

According to an official notice posted there, it required


28,411 blocks to engrave the entire collection, which is

composed of 55,632 leaves. The work is arranged in 154

sections and 1,263 chapters. It consists of 7,920 oblong flat

volumes bound in 792 wrappers {p'ao). The Index, with

prefaces and table of contents, makes five volumes. Each

volume is illustrated with a fine wood-engraving of deUcate

tracing. It is bound in brocade, and the wrappers are also

mounted on beautiful silk brocades of different designs.

This pecuUar feature gives the work a great artistic value.

These textiles with their variety of ornament and color are

rare specimens well authenticated as to origin and date

and traceable to the beginning of the K4en-limg period.

Ancient Chinese textiles are rare, and if found, their dating

rests on internal evidence only. It should be emphasized

that the edition in question is one of the originals actually

printed in 1738, and not a later reprint made from the same

blocks. In the summer of 19 10, when paying a visit to the

temple Po-lin-sze, I witnessed there myself the printing of a

new edition from the old blocks for the benefit of a temple

near Peking.^ Besides this fundamental work for the study

of Buddhism, the Newberry collection has a large number of

single editions of Chinese Buddhist works, among them

some of the Ming period, and other books bearing on

Buddhist subjects. The presence of all the important works

of Buddhism in the three principal languages of Northern

Buddhism—Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongol—will enable the

advanced student to investigate fully and comparatively

almost every phase of Buddhist Hterature.

* Regarding the bibliography and contents of the Chinese Tripitaka compare

Bunyiu Nanjio, A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Bvddhist Tripitaka,

the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists in China and Japan, Oxford, 1883; and CI. E.

Maitre, Une nouvelle Edition du Tripitaka chinois {Bulletin de VEcole franqaise

d'Extrime-Orient, Vol. II, 1902, pp. 341-351).

EAST ASIATIC COLLECTION 13

The output of books in China is enormous, and the

number of editions, particularly in the department of

so-called classical literature, is really bewildering. Myprimary aim was to secure of all standard works first

editions, or whenever this was not possible, the best editions

procurable with the idea of permanency in view. Paper and

type were carefully examined in each case and stress was

laid on obtaining, wherever possible, books printed on

Korean paper (Kao-li chih) which is the strongest and most

expensive, never loses its beautiful and uniform whiteness,

and enjoys the same reputation among Chinese scholars that

hand-made linen paper does among us. The search for

good ancient editions is now beset with more difficulties than

ever before, because, as one of the remarkable results of the

awakening of China, the practice of estabHshing pubUc

libraries was instituted on a large scale. Until recently only

the private Hbrary of the scholar and a few more ambitious

libraries in the possession of distinguished wealthy clans

were known; the latter were guarded with such watchful

jealousy that their utiHzation through a wider circle of

students was rendered well nigh impossible. The foundation

of universities and colleges has also given an impetus to the

establishment of hbraries for the benefit of students. Attimes, the higher Chinese officials became somewhat alarmed

at the exportation abroad of valuable libraries through

foreigners, and the new national spirit now rapidly asserting

itself is inclined to regard old books and manuscripts as

national monuments requiring governmental protection.

They are placed on the same plane as antiquities, and an

export duty ad valorem is placed on them, while new books

are simply fisted as paper and pay a very low amoimt of

duty charged according to weight. The order of the


governor of Shantung forbidding the trade and export of all

kinds of antiquities within the pale of his province has gone

into effect and includes a ban on the exportation of ancient

books. This new movement has naturally resulted in a

strong upward tendency of prices which, in some cases, have

doubled during the last decade. When in 1901 I started on

my first collection of Chinese books, it was still compara-

tively easy to secure ancient printed books at reasonable

rates. At Si-ngan fu, I had in 1902 the first edition of MaTuan-lin's famous work Wen Men fung ¥ao of 13 19

offered to me at 90 Taels (about $63.00) and a Mingedition of the same work of 1524 (period Kia-tsing) at 40

Taels (about $28.00); these editions, no longer procurable,

would now cost at least double that rate. Despite this

discouraging situation I was able to secure a good manyoriginal and Palace editions of such standard works as form

the nucleus of every Chinese library, e.g. the famous

dictionary of the Emperor K*âng-hi in the original Palace

edition of 1716 in forty volumes (No. 34); the great con-

cordance F'ei wen yiln fu in the Palace edition of 171 1 in

one hundred and nineteen volumes (No. 42) ;^ the Pêi wen

chat shu hua pû, a collection of essays on classical and

historical books in sixty-four volumes, dated 1705 (No. 41),

likewise originating from that great promoter of literature

'As the wooden blocks used for the printing of these editions have been

destroyed by fire, it is impossible to have new impressions struck off from them,

as is done with many books out of print the blocks of which are preserved. Thus,

there are books printed with Sung or Yiian blocks under the Ming, and others

struck off from Ming blocks under the Manchu dynasty; the paper is then the

only means of ascertaining this fact. The high value placed on the Palace edition

of the P'î win yiin fu becomes evident from the fact that the Emperor K<îen-

lung presented a copy of it as a reward to persons who sent up a hundred and more

rare books to his library, when he had a search made for such throughout the

empire for the purpose of compiling a complete bibliography of literature.


and printing, the Emperor K^ang-hi, to whom we also owe

a fine edition of the collected works of the philosopher ChuHi (i 130-1200), the Yu chH Chu-tse ts'^uan shu, twenty-four

volumes, 17 13 (No. 31), and an anthology of poetry chrono-

logically arranged, the Yii chH li tai fu hui of 1706, in

eighty volumes (No. 156).

The marked historical sense of the Chinese is one of their

most striking characteristics. Hardly any other nation can

boast of such a long and well-authenticated record of a con-

tinuous uninterrupted historical tradition extending over a

millennium and a half down to 1644, the year of the acces-

sion to the throne of the first Manchu ruler. The ojficial

history of a dynasty is compiled only after its downfall, and

it becomes the duty of the succeeding dynasty to take charge

of the archives of its predecessors, and to appoint a com-

mission of scholars to sift and arrange them for the writing

of the dynastic history. Some of these histories have been

composed by men of high standing in the Hterary world.

Excluding the present one, there are in existence the official

records of twenty-four previous dynasties, known as the

"Twenty-Four Histories" {Erh shi se shi), comprising

altogether 3,264 extensive chapters. With pedantic accu-

racy, all events are there registered not only year by year,

but also month by month, and even frequently day byday. They also contain chapters on chronology, state

ceremonial, music, law, poHtical economy, state sacrifices,

astronomy, geography, foreign relations, and the condition

of literature in that particular period. Of the Twenty-Four

Histories, the Newberry collection contains three series of

different issues : (i) The complete lithographic edition based

on the Palace edition of the Emperor K4en-lung, pubHshed

in Shanghai, 1884, in seven hundred and eleven volumes,

i6 THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

bound in eighty wrappers; of the three Shanghai editions,

varying in quality of paper and size of type, this one is the

best. (2) Several Palace editions of the K4en-lung period

of separate Annals, as e.g. the Weishu or Annals of the Wei

dynasty (386-556 A.D.), in thirty volumes, printed in 1739

(No. 730) ; the Kiu Wu tai shi or Old History of the Five

Dynasties (907-959 A.D.), in sixteen volumes, pubHshed

1775; the Ming shi, or the Annals of the Ming dynasty, one

hundred and twenty-two volumes, 1739 (No. 646); the

Liao Kin Yuan shi, i.e. the three Histories of the Liao

(916-1125 A.D.), Kin (1115-1234 A.D.), and Yuan (1206-

1367 A.D.) dynasties, eighty-two volumes, issued in 1740.

The Manchu rulers had a special predilection for these three

dynasties, with whose representatives they were connected

by ties of blood, the Liao representing the Khitan and the

Kin the Niiichi, both Tungusic tribes closely allied in speech

and culture to the Manchu, while Yiian is the designation

under which the Mongols held sway over China. The

Newberry collection also includes the important work, first

compiled under K4en-lung and re-edited in 1824 at the

instigation of the Emperor Tao-kuang, explaining in Manchu

transcriptions the foreign names of persons, offices, and

localities abounding in the three historical works mentioned

and containing important material for the study of the

languages of the Khitan and Niiichi, only a few fragments

of which have survived.^ (3) Annals pubhshed imder the

Ming dynasty: the Shi ki of Se-ma Ts4en, the first his-

toriographer of China, printed in 1596, twenty volumes (No.

* See Laufer, Sketch of Manchu Literature, p. 45. Paul Pelliot (Bulletin de

VEcolefranqaise d'Extreme-Orient, 1909, p. 71) points to another source of Khitan

words in the Sui shi kuang ki, embodied in the valuable collection of reprints by

Lu Sin-yiian, the Shi wan kiian lou, a copy of which is in the Newberry Library

(No. 974, one hundred twelve volumes).


644), and the Shi ki pHng li^k (No. 868), published in 1576

by Ling I-tung in thirty-two volumes, giving the text with

critical annotations at the head of the pages; the former

edition was the first to print the text together with the

commentaries of Pêi Yin, Se-ma Cheng, and Chang Shou-

tsieh.9 One of the finest Ming printed works is represented

by the TsHen Han shu, the Annals of the Former Handynasty (B.C. 206-24 A.D.), printed in 1532 in thirty-two

volumes, on Korean paper (No. 39). Further, we have the

Hou Han shu, the Annals of the Later Han dynasty (25-220

A.D.) of 1596 in thirty volumes (No. 647); the Han shu

pHng lin of 1581 in twenty-four volumes (No. 593); the

Nan TsH shu or Books of the Southern Ts4 dynasty (479-

501 A.D.) of 1589 in eight volumes (No. 657); the Chên

shu or Books of the Ch'ên dynasty (556-580 A.D.) of 1588

in six volumes (No. 656) ; the Pei TsH shu or Books of the

Northern Ts4 dynasty (550-577 A.D.) of 1638 in six volumes

(No. 726); the Wei shu or Books of the Wei dynasty

(386-556 A.D.) of 1596 in sixteen volumes (No. 653); the

Chou shu or Books of the Chou dynasty (557-580) of 1602

in ten volumes (No. 877); the Sui shu or Books of the Sui

dynasty (581-617 A.D.) of 1594 in twenty volumes (No.

649); the Tâng shu or the Books of the 'Pang dynasty

(618-906 A.D.) in forty-nine volumes (No. 606); the Sung

shi or Annals of the Sung dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) of 1480

(some leaves bearing dates 1557 and 1600) in ninety-six

volumes (No. 855); the Liao shi or Annals of the Liao

dynasty (916-1125 A.D.) of 1529 in eight volumes (No.

625), and finally the Yuan shi, the History of the Yiian

or Mongol dynasty (i 206-1367 A.D.), the editio princeps

9 Compare E. Chavannes, Les mSmoires historiques de Se-ma T'^sien, Vol. I,

p. ccxviii (Paris, 1895).

i8 THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY

published under the reign of the first Ming Emperor Hung-

wu (1368-1398). This makes a total of thirteen Annals in

Ming dynasty editions, which may be considered a very

satisfactory result of the search for these works, since

complete sets can no longer be obtained. The superiority of

the Ming editions has been demonstrated thus far in the case

of the Yuan shi; but close critical study of the others will

presmnably reveal similar results. Bretschneider has shown

that a learned committee was appointed by the Emperor

K4en-lung to revise the YUan shi, and to change the

writing of all foreign personal and geographical names

according to an entirely arbitrary system in which the old

names can hardly be recognized. The K4en-lung edition

has thus become unserviceable for historical and geographi-

cal investigations, and the Ming edition must be made the

basis of all serious research. As the same observation holds

good for the History of the Liao, the 1529 edition of this

work now in the Newberry Library becomes one of funda-

mental value.

Under the Ming dynasty, three editions of the YUan shi

were issued: during the period Hung-wu (1368-1398),

ELia-tsing (1522-1567), and Wan-U (1573-1620). The

compilation of the Annals began in 1369 and was completed

in the middle of 1370. It is curious, however, that our

edition, which evidently represents this first original issue of

the work, bears on the margin of the first page following the

index the imprint "first year of Hung-wu," i.e. 1368.

There are many leaves in it supplemented from the second

Kia-tsing edition, on which dates like 1530, 1531, 1533, etc.,

and even 1572, are printed. It was a common practice

imder the Ming to make up books, especially historical

works, in this pecuHar manner. If single printing-blocks


were destroyed or lost, the respective pages were written

out and engraved again, and provided with a date-mark on

the left margin. A number of our Ming works exhibit this

feature, and a well-informed book-expert in Peking told methat this custom was followed in the Government printing-

office at Nanking, and that all books of this peculiar make-up

come from there.

An indispensable compendium for the study of the

Chinese Annals is the Shi sing yiin pien (No. 1207, twenty-

four volumes, 1784), containing an index arranged according

to rhymes of all proper names occurring in the Twenty-Four

Official Histories. The principle of arrangement is the sameas in the P'^ei wen yilnfu. When an historical name is metwith in the reading of texts, one is enabled, by consulting

this handbook, to refer at once to the chapter in the Annals

where the biography of the personage in question may be

found.'"

The Dynastic Histories themselves constitute only a small

portion of the historical literature of the Chinese; they form

the frame and groundwork on which a lofty structure of

investigations, dissertations, and compilations has been built.

Next to the Dynastic Histories rank the "Annals" (pien

nien) the model for which was found in the "Spring andAutumn Annals'' {Ch'un TsHu) of Confucius, a chronicle of

events in strict chronological sequence. The work of this

class claiming the greatest antiquity is represented by the

"Annals Written on Bamboo Tablets" {Chu shu ki nien,

No. 875) extending to 299 B.C. The most celebrated pro-

duction of this kind is the Tse chi fung Men by Se-maKuang (1009-1089), completed in 1084 after nineteen years'

labor. It is a general history of China from the beginning

1° Compare F. Hirth in T'^ung Poo, Vol. VI, p. 319.


of the fourth century B.C. down to the beginning of the

tenth century A.D. About a century later, this work was

revised and condensed by the famous philosopher Chu Hi

(i 130-1200) into fifty-nine chapters. It was first published

in 1 1 72 under the title Tûng kien kang mu with an intro-

duction by Chu Hi, and it is a complete copy of this editio

princeps which the Newberry Library now possesses. It is

a rare and fine specimen of Simg printing and perhaps the

most extensive work of that period now known. This work

is still regarded as the standard history of China, and

innumerable subsequent editions of it have been published."

The fact that this edition is really that of the Sung period is

proved by the description of it given by Mo Yu-chi in his

valuable bibHographical work (Lit Hng chi kien chûan pen

shu mu, Ch. 4, p. 14, ed. by Tanaka Keitaro, Peking, 1909).

He says that the printing-blocks were engraved in 11 72, that

the printing was done on pure paper, that each page has

eight lines with seventeen characters for each Hne. This

agrees with our edition, while the reprint of the Yiian period

exhibits on each page ten lines with sixteen large characters

on each, or twenty-four, if small characters are employed.

It is probable that the copy in the Newberry collection is

identical with that described by Mo Yu-chi, as a number of

other books inspected and attested by this scholar were

obtained by me.

The Manchu translation of this history is represented by a

Palace edition beautifully printed in 168 1 imder the gener-

ous patronage of the Emperor K*âng-hi and issued in

ninety-six large volmnes (No. 573). No library in Europe

seems to possess a perfect copy of it; the University Library

" A modem reprint dated 1886 is in the John Crerar Library (No. 808, two

hundred and forty volumes).


in Kasan owns a fragment in twelve volumes. To the same

group of histories belong the Tûng Men tsÛan pien (No.

608), compiled under the Ming dynasty in 1559, in twelve

volumes; the Kang kien hui pien (No. 742), of the same

period, giving a history down to 1355; and the Sung Yiian

Vûng kien (No. 648), a history of the Sung and Yiian

dynasties, dated 1566, in twenty-four volumes.

The third class of historical writings is represented by the

"Complete Records" {ki shi pen mo) in which the authors

free themselves from the restraints of the traditional method

and treat the whole subject thoroughly from a broad point

of view. The most important of these, the Sung shi ki shi

pen mo, the Yiian shi ki shi pen mo of 1606, and Ming kien

ki shi pen mo (No. 547, twenty volumes, 1648), are all in

the Newberry collection; also the Yi shi by Ma Su (No. 948,

forty-eight volumes), of 1670. In works relating to the

history of the Yiian and Ming dynasties, the Library is

especially rich. I may mention the Yiian shi sin pien, a

newly discovered history of the Mongol d3niasty published

in 1905 in thirty-two volumes; the Code of the Yiian, first

printed 1908 in twenty-four volumes; the Ming shi kao

(No. 607), a valuable history of the Ming dynasty in eighty

volumes, inspired by the untiring activity of the Emperor

K'ang-hi in 1697, written by Wang Hung-sii and printed

1 7 10; the KHn ting ming kien (No. 631), twenty-four

volumes, and another record of the same house, compiled

by a commission under K4en-lung; the Ming ki tsi Ho

(No. 856), Hkewise an account of the history of the Ming

dynasty, issued in 1765 in sixteen volumes.

Of the works faUing under the category of cheng shu, i.e.

handbooks of information on the constitution, official

administration, and many subjects of national economy, the


collection includes the so-called San fung (No. 920), edition

of 1859 in three hundred and twenty volumes, embracing

the Tûng Hen of Tu Yu, who died 812 A.D.; the Huangc¥ao fûng tien, referring to the Manchu dynasty andcompiled by order of K4en-lung, first pubHshed about 1790,

and the Wen hien fung kâo by Ma Tuan-lin, first printed

in 13 19; further, the Kiu ifûng lei tien (No. 973), in which

nine works of this class are worked up systematically, in the

Shanghai edition by Yii Yiieh in sixty volumes.

A group of historical works not mentioned by Wylie is

represented by comprehensive histories of the emperors

which seem to have been in vogue under the Ming dynasty.

I secured a Yu chH li tai kun Ian (No. 543), a history of the

lives of the emperors beginning with the mythical culture-

hero Fu-hi and ending with Shun-ti, the last emperor of the

Mongols. It was composed by the Ming Emperor Tai-

tsung and is in a beautifully printed Ming Palace edition of

the year 1453 in five quarto-volumes, probably xmique. Of

other Ming publications treating of historical subjects maybe mentioned the TsHn Han shu su (No. 891) of the year

1558, containing memorials to the throne by eminent

statesmen imder the Tsîn and Han dynasties.

There are many special records dealing with certain peri-

ods and events in the history of the late reigning house. TheHuang TsHng ¥ai kuo fang Ho (No. 555), Palace edition of

1786 in sixteen volumes of quarto size of fine print, relates

the history of the Manchu conquest of China. Tung hua lu

is the designation of a number of works treating the reigns

of the various emperors." We have the Tung hua lu byTsiang Liang-k4, a summary of events from the origin of

" The name means Records of the Tung hua, a gate in the east wall of the

Palace of Peking, near which there is the Kuo ski kuan, the Office of the State

Archives.


the dynasty down to the year 1735, printed in 1765 (No.

739, twelve volumes); the Tung hua se lu (No. 744) in

forty-nine volumes, being the continuation of the former

work and treating the history of the long rule of the Emperor

K4en-lung (i 736-1 795); further, the Tung hua tsîlan lu

(No. 988), pubhshed in 1884 in one hundred and thirty-four

volumes, containing a complete history of the dynasty up

to 1874; finally the Kuang-su tung hua lu (No. 972, sixty-

four volumes), being the history of the period Kuang-sii

(1875-1908).

Wars and rebeUions have been frequent during the last

two centuries and the official documents relating to most of

them have been printed. The formidable war which the

Emperor K'âng-hi waged against the Kalmuk chief Galdan

at the end of the seventeenth century is treated in a Manchu

work under the title, "Subjugation of the Regions of the

North and West" (Nos. 560, 710), in thirty-five volumes, of

which only twenty-three could be secured, no complete

copies having survived. So far as I can ascertain, no

European library is in possession of this work. Another

book of great rarity is the PHng ting kiao ki lio (No. 736),

"Account of the Pacification of the Sectarian Rebels,''

published by order of the Emperor Kia-k'îng and relating

to the rebellion of a secret society under the leadership of Li

and Lin Ts4ng, who plotted against the life and throne of

the monarch.

The imperial printing-office, which occupied a series of

buildings situated to the southwest of the Palace City

(called Tsao pan ch'û), was established by a decree of the

Emperor Kâng-hi in 1680. The superb editions issued

from this press by imperial sanction under the reigns of

Kâng-hi and K4en-lung are known under the name of


Palace editions (Hen pan). The buildings together with

their entire stock of printing-blocks and types were destroyed

by an accidental conflagration in July, 1869. Palace

editions have therefore become rare and eagerly sought-for

treasures. That disaster resulted in the estabHshment of a

new press arranged on the plan of movable types which was

connected with the Tsung-H Ya-men, the former Office of

Foreign Affairs. Fonts of movable lead type were procured

from the supply introduced by Mr. Gamble, superintendent

of the American Presbyterian Mission Press at Shanghai,

and were employed in the production of several official

pubHcations of great bulk and historical importance. Themost noteworthy of these are the Kiao ping YUe-fei fang lio

(No. 654) in four hundred and twenty volumes, and the

Kiao pHng Nien-fei fang lio (No. 655) in three hundred and

twenty volumes. The former gives the official record of the

Government proceedings in the great T'^ai-p4ng insurrec-

tion, all operations and despatches being given; the latter

work contains a similar record of the great MohanunedanrebeUion. Both pubHcations were issued simultaneously in

1872, and magnificently printed in imiform style. They

form one of the most extensive collections of documents

relating to a particular event ever pubHshed by any govern-

ment, and they deserve the careful attention of the his-

torian interested in these two imique movements; they have

not yet been utilized by any foreign scholar.

Among works relating to the history of modern times, the

following are deserving of special mention: The Collected

Reports and Decisions of the statesman Li Hung-chang

(No. 708) pubHshed in thirty-two volumes, 1866, by

Chang Hung-kiin and Wu Ju-lim; and the Diary of the

great statesman Tseng Kuo-fan (1811-1872) pubHshed


in the facsimile of his own handwriting (forty volumes,

No. 1215).

The Shi c¥ao sheng sun (No. 970, one hundred volumes)

is a collection of all the decrees issued by the emperors of the

Manchu djoiasty up to 1874, the year of the death of T'ûng-

chi; those of the Emperor Kuang-sii have not yet been

published in book-form.

Many critical treatises on special historical subjects, manyworks on biography, memoirs, and local history (several, e.g.

on the history of Sze-ch'ûan Province) are also included in

the collection. Taken collectively, these materials provide

the means for the detailed investigation of almost any

historical problem relating to Eastern Asia.

The cyclopaedic tendency of the Chinese has become

almost proverbial. Hardly any nation can boast of such a

large number of cyclopaedias. They resemble, on the whole,

our own attempts in this direction, except that the method of

arrangement is different. The Chinese works of this kind

are arranged methodically according to subject-matter,

extracts or quotations from older works on the particular

subject being given under each heading. The compilers

refrain from recording investigations or even opinions of

their own, but observe a strictly objective and impartial

method in placing only the material itself before the reader.

One soon becomes familiar with the mode of arrangement,

and finds in a few moments any special subject desired, whenaccustomed to the system of classification.

Of the more important cyclopaedias in The Newberry

Library, the following are deserving of particular mention:

the Tâi pHng yu Ian (No. 32), edited 18 12 in sixty-four

volumes by the scholar and statesman Juan Yuan (1764-

1849). This is a compilation coming down from the Sung


d3masty and completed by Li Fang and others in 983 A.D.

It is divided into fifty-five sections comprising a thousand

chapters in all. Extracts are given from 1,690 works all of

which are listed in the introduction. As scarcely two- or

three-tenths of these are now preserved and a large number

were already lost when the work was compiled, so that the

quotations had to be copied from former cyclopaedias, this

thesaurus is especially valuable since it thus includes a great

deal of information not to be found in other sources. One of

the most practical works of this class is the Yen kien lei han

of which we have the beautiful Palace edition issued under

the patronage of the Emperor Kâng-hi in 17 10, in one

hundred and forty volumes (No. 36). F. W. Mayers, whohas traced the Uterary history of this work {China Review,

Vol. VI, p. 287), calls it the most accessible and perhaps the

most generally useful of the imperial compilations of the

K'ang-hi period. An earlier production of the Mingdynasty, the Tâng lei han by Yii Ngan-k'î,'^ served as

model and foundation of the Yen kien lei han. Arranged in

four hundred and fifty chapters, it amounts to twice the

bulk of the Tâi pHng yii Ian, as the chapters are more

voluminous and the types are cut on a smaller scale. The

cyclopaedia Yii hai {lit "Sea of Jade") was compiled by

Wang Ying-lin (1223-1296) in the second part of the

thirteenth century.'^ jt was first printed in 133 7-1340. In

the first half of the sixteenth century, revised and aug-

mented editions began to appear. The one in the Newberry

collection (No. 33) is the Palace edition of the K4en-lung

period, pubHshed in 1738 in one hundred and twenty

*a The original edition of this work is in the John Crerar Library Collection

(No. 211).

^ Compare Pelliot, Bulletin de VEcole frariQaise dÊxtrime-Orient, Vol. II,

1902, p. 336.


volumes. It is divided into twenty-one sections comprising

upward of two hundred and forty articles and is generally

prized by scholars, according to WyHe, as one of the best

works of its class, although it must be used with discrimina-

tion. The latter remark is not restricted, however, to this

particular work, but holds good for all cyclopaedias, the

quotations of which are sometimes inexact, incomplete, or

impaired by misprints, and should be verified in important

cases from the originals, if these are available, which is

certainly not always the case.

Of the TsHen kio lei shu (No. 161) the Newberry collection

has the original edition of 1632 in forty-four volumes. It is

divided into thirteen sections containing upward of fourteen

hundred articles. WyUe states regarding this work that in

the eleventh book which treats of the bordering countries,

and in the fourteenth book on foreign nations, the author

speaks with an unguarded freedom respecting the Manchu.

This caused the work to be placed on the Index Expurga-

toriuSj and these two books were ordered to be suppressed.

In our edition, however, they are fortunately retained in

full, and it may be a timely task to investigate on what

groimds the charge of anti-Manchuism is based.

Of the cyclopaedia Tse shi tsing hua (No. 160), the Palace

edition executed under the reign of the Emperor Yung-

ch^ng, 1727, in thirty-six volumes, was the one secured for

the Newberry Library. This is a voluminous collection, in

one hundred and sixty chapters, of extracts from historical

and philosophical writers, primarily intended as a convenient

manual to aid in the composition of literary essays.

One of the treasures of the Newberry collection is the

Ts'^efuyiian kuei (No. 231), edition of 1642 in three hundred

and twenty volumes. This is now exceedingly rare and a


work of great intrinsic value. It is an historical compendium

drawn up in the fonn of an encyclopaedia with full details of

all state matters from the beginnings of history down to the

Sung dynasty; it was compiled by a commission of fifteen

at the request of Ch^n-tsimg, the third emperor of the Sung,

and completed in 1013 A.D., each section being revised by

the Emperor in person. The importance of this work rests

on the fact that it allows of the comparative study of all

existing sources relative to the same events, and that it

imparts a great deal of new material not to be found in the

official Annals, especially for the history of China imder

the T'^ang dynasty.

The Fa yiian chu tin (No. 38, twenty-four volumes) is a

convenient reference work dealing with Buddhistic subjects

and affording a comprehensive view of the entire system of

Buddhism in cyclopaedic arrangement. It was first issued

in 668 A.D. by the monk Tao-shi.

As might be expected from their philosophical trend of

mind, philosophy occupies the largest place in the Hfe of the

Chinese and in their Uterary achievements. Of the so-caUed

classical, but more correctly, canonical Hterature, the

Newberry collection contains many Palace editions of the

Ming period and of the eighteenth century. The former are

nearly all facsimile reprints of the earHer Simg editions;

e.g. Chu Hi's work on the Yi king (No. 661) is a Ming

reproduction of the editio princeps of 1099. A notable

acquisition is the Huang tsHng king tsieh (No. 623, three

hundred sixty-one volumes, edition of 1890) containing one

hundred and eighty works of the Manchu dynasty com-

menting on the Confucian Canon and edited by the famous

statesman Juan Yiian (i 764-1849) . Of philosophical works,

the original edition of the Sing li ta ts^iian of 1415 (No. 672),


a collection of the writings of the Sung philosophers made at

the instigation of the Emperor Yimg-lo, and the collected

works of the philosopher Chu Hi (i 130-1200), Palace edition

of 1 7 13, are especially noteworthy. The latter gives a

dogmatic interpretation of the ancient canonical books and

exercised an almost despotic influence on the subsequent

thought and Hterature of China.

In lexicography the collection is strong. Among the early

works in this class may be mentioned the original edition of

the Hung-wu cheng yiin (No. 545, five volumes), a dictionary

arranged according to rhymes and composed by the first

emperor of the Ming dynasty, Hung-wu (1368-1398), and

the Wu yin pien yiin (No. 887, five volumes), a dictionary

of 1467.

Fiction is considered by Chinese scholars an inferior

branch of literature and is not grouped with literature

proper. It covers a wide field, nevertheless, and is im-

mensely popular. No endeavor at completeness was

made, but only the more important novels and those having

a certain value as illustrating the history of culture were

procured. Poetry, however, has always been viewed as one

of the liberal arts and elegant pastimes of a gentleman, and

the Chinese have cultivated it to an extraordinary extent.

Its study is valuable to us for its high aesthetic merits, but

at a future date it will surely fulfill a still greater mission and

furnish the fundamental material for the most difficult of

all subjects connected with China—the psychology of the

Chinese. Here, their sentiments have crystallized, and he

who wants to get the spirit of Chinese feeling and thinking

must turn to their poetry, which is also the basis for the

understanding of their painting and music. This depart-

ment of literature was made as full and representative as


possible, and all poets of distinction are represented. All

dynastic collections embracing the poems of certain periods,

such as the works of the Han, Leu-ch*âo, 'Pang, and Sung,

and many individual editions of poets as well as critical

investigations of their works were acquired, together with

the Palace editions of the collected poems of the Emperors

K%ng-hi and K4en-lung. Among the early poetical works

special mention may be made of the Tâng shi pHn hui,

"Researches into the Poetry of the 'Pang Period" (No.

1208), by Kao Sin-ning, printed in 1395 in eighteen volumes;

a Collection of Poetry in eight volumes printed imder the

Yiian dynasty (No. 1151), the fourth volume of which

contains the poetical works of the celebrated poet and

painter Wang Wei; a Ming edition of the two foremost

poets Tu Fu and Li Pai-po (No. 869, twenty volumes) ; a

Ming edition of the Sung poets of 1504 (No. 1169, twenty-

four volumes); and the Li Sao of 1586 (No. 871, four

volumes). The copy of the Shuang-ki Hang kung shit tsi

(No. 916), i.e. "Collection of the Poems of Hang Huai, or

Hang Shuang-ki," a poet of the Ming dynasty, is the only

one at present known to be in existence. It was printed in

1 559 in the Kia-tsing period, and was formerly in the Lu-t*=ing

Library. In the Catalogue of this Collection already

referred to, it is remarked (Ch. 15, p. 12) that at the end of

the last volimie a hand-written entry consisting of two lines

has been made to the effect that "on the nineteenth day of

the month, of the year hing-se of the period Kâng-hi (1701),

the old man Chu-to has perused this book." This same

inscription is found written in red ink at the end of the

Newberry copy which consequently must be identical with

the one examined by Mo Yu-chi, who died in 187 1. Chu-to

is the title of Chu I-tsun (1629-1709), a devoted student of

mrn^jj m''-^-mW^^W^MiP's

Ifriliil:

Li

i:_-.iJ5

&

$m

m,mm

mfM'Wi^^

TWO PAGES FROM T^ANG LIU SIEN SHENG WEN TSI,

W<nW»ii>uii«lim.HMlMW»*ii« i I tiaUSKM

G5

PUBLISHED IN 1167, SUNG PERIOD.


ancient literature and archaeology. We can thus clearly

trace the ownership of this copy to two famous scholars.

A work of great importance, and at the same time the

earhest printed book in the Newberry Library, is the

Vang Liu sien sheng wen tsi (No. 11 74), dated 1167, in

twelve volumes, containing the collected poems and essays

of Liu Tsung-yiian (773-819 A.D.), one of the most cele-

brated poets and essayists of the T'^ang dynasty. This

edition, in forty-three chapters, has been fully described in

the Catalogue of Lii t4ng (Ch. 12, p. 16) ; it is provided with

a commentary by Shi Yin-pien. The margins of the pages

show the pecuHar black ornament of the Sung period

(called "black mouth," hei ¥oia) ; there are twenty-six lines

of twenty-three characters on each page.

Born bibUophiles and philologists, the Chinese have

always devoted the greatest attention to the bibliography

of their literature. In the official annals of the various

dynasties, there is a section in which the books extant or

issued during that particular period are carefully enumer-

ated; this thus becomes an indispensable source for the

tracing of the history of books. The best known general

catalogue is the Sze ¥u ts'^Uan shu giving a detailed critical

description of the library of the Emperor K4en-lung whocaused an extensive search for ancient books and manu-scripts to be made throughout the empire. The Fanfamily in Ning-po, which possessed one of the greatest

private libraries, distinguished itself in this enterprise andrendered a substantial service to the book-loving monarchby sending up six hundred and ninety-six works not ownedby him. The Catalogue of this Library (No. 939) waspubhshed in 1808 in ten volumes, by the eminent scholar

and statesman Juan Yiian (i 764-1849), and registers the


titles of 4,094 works. As a characteristic sidelight on

Chinese private libraries, the fact may be mentioned that

the Fan Library is, or was, guarded with great jealousy. It

is the common property of the whole clan, and each memberof the clan keeps a key to his own lock, so that the place can

be opened only with the consent of aU, and it is the strict

rule that it shall be opened only in the presence of all. In

the Catalogue mentioned, a list of the books presented to the

Emperor is drawn up.

The province of Ch^-kiang in which Ning-po is situated,

and the provinces of Kiang-su and An-hui always excelled

in an abundance of books and in a great number of book-

lovers and collectors. The total of works despatched from

Che-kiang to Peking amounted to 4,600, of which 2,000

were retained by the imperial bibliographers as deserving of

being copied. Critical notes on all these books offered to

the throne by that province were edited by Sh^n Ch^û

under the title Che-kiang ts'âi tsi yi shu mu (No. 940), in

1772, eleven volumes. The Newberry Collection includes

several other such private catalogues, among which the Pi

sung lou ts'âng shu chi (No. 943, thirty-two volmnes, 1882)

deserves special mention. This is a description of the rare

books gathered by the famous scholar Lu Sin-yuan,'^ whose

library was purchased in 1907 by the Japanese banker

Iwasaki for 100,000 Yen ($50,000.00).

A catalogue of special value is the Hui ¥0 shu mu (No.

953, ten volumes, 1870), a Hst of two hundred and sixty-nine

so-called Tsûng-shu or Repositories.^^ It was j&rst pub-

lished in 1799 by Ku Siu. Many ancient and most interest-

's Compare P. Pelliot, L'oeuvre de Lou Sin-yiian {Bulletin de VEcole franqaise

d'Extrime-Orient, Vol. IX, 1909, pp. 211-249).

»fi Compare A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, pp. 76, 255; F. Hirth,

Tôung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895, p. 321.


ing writings have been preserved only in these repositories,

a class of publications corresponding to our "Series" or

"Library" and usually containing the first printed editions

of ancient manuscripts. In some cases these collections are

of a heterogeneous nature since they include only such rare

books as chanced to fall into the hands of an individual or a

publishing house. In other cases they are arranged accord-

ing to a plan well mapped out before hand, comprising the

writers of certain periods or limited to certain classes of

literature as philosophy, poetry, geography, or medicine.

Thus, the well-known Ban Wei tsûng shu is a collection of

authors who hved during the Han and Wei dynasties; the

Tâng Sung ts'ûng shu is exclusively devoted to productions

of the 'Fang and Sung periods; the Cheng i fang tsûng shu

(No. 753, one himdred and forty-eight volumes, 1709-17 10)

comprises collections of the treatises of the philosophers of

the Sung d3niasty. Wylie gives the contents of thirteen

such Ts'ûng-shUj merely registering the titles of the works

embodied in them. Paul PeUiot has seriously taken up this

subject and given a detailed critical and bibHographical

analysis of several Ts'ûng-shu with a stupendous amountof erudition. His high standard should be adopted as the

ideal model for all future research in this direction. It is

evident that the material incorporated in these enormous

collections can be made available for fruitful investigation

only by carefully cataloguing and indexing all the single

works. It was made a special point to hunt up as many of

these CoUectanea as possible on account of their intrinsic

value. It was a difficult task to trace and find them, owing

to the fact that many of them were issued privately for sub-

scribers and no copies in excess of the subscription were

struck off. A great many were brought out in the period


Tao-kuang (1821-1850); these are now very difficult to

procure. Wylie's remark that " the complete series is issued

at once as an indivisible whole" does not hold good for all

cases; I know of at least half a dozen Tsûng-shu now in

process of pubHcation on the subscription plan, the single

issues being furnished to subscribers regularly as they come

out. The Newberry Library has thirty-two of these works

and the John Crerar Library about the same number;

altogether they are the equivalent of several thousand

useful books.

The most extensive of these publications is the Wu ying

Hen tsil chin pan tsûng shu (No. 538, reprint of 1868) in

seven himdred and ninety-three voliunes, containing one

himdred and forty-eight different works, the titles of which

have been Hsted by A. WyHe. Wu ying is the name of a

building in the Imperial Palace of Peking where a printing-

office was estabHshed; tsii cMn, "assembled pearls," is an

allusion to the set of wooden movable types cut in 1774 for

the printing of the works amassed in the Imperial Library,'^

and constituting the bulk of the works pubHshed in this

imperial collection. Next in literary importance is the

Chi pu tsu chai tsûng shu (No. 921, two hundred and forty

volumes), which means "the Library of the Discontented"

i.e. those who are not satisfied with the ordinary books

published, but who are desirous of delving deeper in branches

of literature not easily accessible. Indeed, this series in-

cludes a great number of works of the first order for cultural

studies, most of which are not obtainable in separate

editions. It contains important books on antiquities and

inscriptions, and the works of some of the oldest writers on

*7The history of this event is described by F. W. Mayers in the China

Review, Vol. VI, 1878, p. 294.


agriculture, mineralogy, and mathematics. Among others

are the Ling wai tai ta, one of the best sources for our

knowledge of mediaeval trade and intercourse of the Chinese

with the peoples of western Asia; the Siian ho feng shi

KaO'li fu king, containing a most interesting description of

the country, customs, and institutions of Corea, written byLu Yiin-ti in 1167 on the basis of personal experience and

observation, and deserving of a complete translation; the

Meng Hang lu by Wu Tze-mu, giving a vivid account of the

culture and social hfe of the city of Hang-chou during the

Middle Ages and being a primary source for the history of

games, pastimes, and theatricals.

A remarkable work of modern Chinese scholarship is the

Shi wan kiian lou (No. 974), edited in 1879 ^Y Lu Sin-

yiian, in one hundred and twelve volumes. He was a manof vast erudition, wide reading, extensive bibUographical

knowledge, and an indefatigable collector of rare ancient

manuscripts, part of which have been edited by him imder

the above title. All students are greatly indebted to

the thorough and scholarly analysis which Professor Paul

PeUiot^^ has devoted to this important work, and which

enables one to put its valuable contents to immediate use.

The collection comprises fifty individual works, while No.

43 consists again of twenty different treatises.

The most recent effort in the editing of important monu-

ments of the past is represented by the Kuo suei ts^ung shu

(No. 983), now being published by the Kuo hio pao ts^un hui,

a learned society founded at Shanghai in 1906 for the

preservation and study of ancient Hterature and art. This

association founded a library and a museum, and seems to

** Notes de bibliographie chinoise. III. L'caeuvre de Lou Sin-yiian {Bulletin

de I'EcolefranQaise, Vol. IX, 1909, pp. 211-249, 425-469).


be in the possession of valuable ancient manuscripts which

are being printed in the above-mentioned collection.

PeUiot'' remarks that the third section, containing historical

works bearing chiefly on the epochs when the peace of the

empire was troubled (end of the Sung, Yiian, Ming, 'Pai-

p4ng resurrection), is the richest in historical material of

immediate interest.

Islam has obtained a strong footing in China and numbers

about twenty miUions of adherents. A not inconsiderable

literature in Arabic and Chinese has been brought into

existence by Chinese Mohammedans, of which there are

twenty-one works in the Newberry Library, obtained from

the mosques in Ch'êng-tu, the capital of Sze-ch'ûan, and

those in Si-ngan, the capital of Shensi Province. Thefollowing books deserve special mention: THenfang Hen li.

Laws and Customs of the Mohammedan ReHgion, six

volumes, Nanking, 1871; THenfang sing li, MohammedanPhilosophy, six volumes, Nanking, 1871; THen fang li

yiianJOrigin of the Mohammedan Calendar, in Chinese and

Arabic, one volume, 1876; Tîenfang wei chen yao liOj the

Islamic Taboos on Food, one volume, 1892 ; THenfang htian

yii shu yaOy Geography of the Mohammedan World, one

volume, 1892, with illustrations of a compass, ecUpses,

etc. ; THen fang tse mu kieh i, Explanation of the Arabic

Alphabet, one volimae, 1894; Si lai Tsung pû, Life of the

Prophet, one volume, 1899; Tîen fang jen i poo chen se tse

king, Mohammedan Schoolbook in adaptation of the

Chinese Four-Character Primer, one volume, 1897; the

Three-Character Primer {San tse king), 1838, and the Great

Learning (Ta hio), 1794, in the form of Islamic instruction;

^9 In his article, Les nouvelles revues d'art et d'arch6ologie en Chine {Bulletin

de VEcolefranâise, Vol. IX, 1909, pp. 573-582).


several works on the history, institutions, and theology of

the rehgion, and some prayer-books. A curiosity is a

manuscript Arabic grammar in three volumes written by

a Chinese Mollah of the great Mosque of Chêng-tu about

forty years ago.^°

Art, archaeology, and epigraphy are represented by a

number of standard treatises. The Kin shi ts'ûng shu is

a repository of famous works on inscriptions pubUshed in

1888 in forty volumes (No. 620). In no department of their

philological activity are the Chinese more deserving of praise

and admiration than in epigraphy. With true zeal and

industry, they have collected the many thousands of ancient

stone records of their long past, published them in facsimiles,

and displayed a great amount of critical acumen in the

identification and interpretation of the old forms of

characters. Most of these works are so well known to

archaeologists that a detailed description of them need not

be given. Suffice it to say that all the necessary material

for successful investigations into Chinese antiquities is here,

as, e.g. the extensive collection of inscriptions entitled Kin

shi tsui pien (No. 40), sixty-four volumes, 1805; the Kin

shi so (No. 158), by Feng Yiin-p^êng and Feng Yun-yiian,

twelve volumes, in the original quarto edition of 182 1; the

Po ku fu (No. 162), twenty volumes, 1752, the standard

work on ancient bronzes with their inscriptions, being the

catalogue of bronzes ia the Museum of the Sung Emperor

Hui-tsung, pubHshed by Wang Fu in 1107 A.D.; the Kin

shi chH (No. 917), a very interesting work on various kinds

of antiquities, first edited in 1778, re-edited in 1896, five

»*•A bibliography of Chinese Mohammedan literature is given by A. Vissi^re,

Etudes sino-mahometanes, pp. 106-135 (Paris, 1911), and by the same author in the

work of D'Ollone, Recherches sur les Musulmans ckinois,pp. 389-419 (Paris, 191 1).


volumes; Tao chai ki kin lu (No. 989), eight volumes, 1908,

an illustrated catalogue of the famous collection of the former

Viceroy Tuan Fang which is (or was) intended to form the

foundation of a Chinese National Museum; Liang lei Men yi

kH fu shi (No. 942), six volumes, Su-chou, 1873, a finely

illustrated description of a valuable collection of ancient

bronzes with facsimiles and ingenious explanations of their

inscriptions, by Wu Yun, whose work is the best modemcontribution to this difficult subject; Liang lei Men yin

¥ao man tsûn (No. 11 52), ten volumes, by the same author,

a pubhcation describing the seals of the Han dynasty in his

collection, a facsimile rubbing of each seal being given in

vermihon, with a transUteration of the ancient script in

modern characters and an historical discussion; two other

extensive works on seals (No. 11 56 and 596) of 1749 and

1904; THeh yiin tsâng ktcei (No. 938), 1904, Ancient

Inscribed Tortoise Shells (used for divination), by 'Pieh

yiin; the Kin sM yiin fu (No. 630), an interesting diction-

ary of the ancient characters as foimd in bronze and stone

inscriptions, printed in red; and many others. For the

study of jade, there is the Ku yil lû pHi. (No. 35), the

Catalogue of Ancient Jades compiled in the period Shun-hi

(11 74-1 189 A.D.) and printed in 1779; and the Ku yil fu

¥ao (No. 863) of 1889, the ingenious work of Wu Ta-ch*êng.

A number of works have reference to the history of painting

and the biography of painters; others are collections of

drawings, black and white or colored prints. As one of the

finest specimens of xylographic art, the Nan sUn sheng Hen

(No. 729), in forty-eight volumes, the Palace edition of

177 1, deserves especial mention. It contains a description

of the travels of the Emperor K*îen-lung through the mid-

land provinces, inspection tours with poUtical ends in view,


and is sumptuously illustrated with plans and views of

scenery encountered along the imperial route. The work is

one of our best sources for the study and understanding of

the architecture of central China in the eighteenth century.

During the last decade there has been a remarkable

renaissance movement in Chinese literature, resulting in an

enormous output of books which still seems to be increasing.

I do not here refer to the mass of foreign Hterature made

accessible to the Chinese in the form of translations made by

missionaries or other foreign teachers engaged by native

universities; nor to the awakening of the people at large with

respect to political and educational reforms which has

resulted in the production of a vast literature on the law,

administration, history, and sciences of foreign nations.

It is gratifying to observe that despite this reform move-

ment, activity in the domain of native erudition has not

been neglected and shows quite unexpected fruits and

results. The advocates of the degeneration theory, who

diagnosed the whole of Chinese culture as stagnation and

decay and were guided rather by hasty impressions and

opinions than by a careful scrutiny of actual facts, surely

were bad prophets. But a man Hke Alexander Wylie,

gifted with an insight into real conditions, did justice to the

literary activity of modem China when he remarked as far

back as 1867:

"Apart from the works issued by authority, the pubHca-

tions of private authors under the Manchu rule have been

very considerable, and some of them indicate talent of no

mean order. Although we have not the dashing flights of

the Sung dynasty celebrities, yet we find a deep vein of

thought running through the works of some modem authors;

and for critical acumen the present age will stand a very fair


comparison with most of its predecessors. The views of

bygone ages are being freely canvassed; scholars are less

under the mental domination of authority; and expositions

of the classics which have long been held infaUible, are anewsubmitted to the test of criticism. History, Geography, and

Language have each received important accessions, and

Mathematical works exhibit an evident tendency to

advance."

Whoever takes the trouble to watch the Hterary activity

of the present time will see this sound judgment fully

confirmed and will be struck by the variety of topics and the

breadth and depth of spirit in which they are treated. Theexcellent Bulletin de VEcole franqaise (TExtreme-Orient

y

edited in Hanoi, gives careful bibUographical notices of the

Chinese book-market and also affords to the non-Chinese

reader an opportunity of forming an idea of the scope and

general contents of modem hterature.

Even in poetry and fiction, the old glory has not entirely

vanished, and there are promising signs of a new and

flourishing era in this department. The modem novel,

exhibiting the problems and conflicts of social life, has found

an echo in the coimtry and brought forth some remarkable

productions. JoumaHsm, which is now fully developed all

over the country and certainly does not err in the direction

of being too tame or reserved in the expression of opinion,

has stamped a far-reaching influence on and given a newstimulus to belles-lettres. Magazines, valuable both for

their contents and for artistic features, are an important

factor in the culture of modem China and have a large

reading pubHc.

Reference has been made to the philological and editorial

activity of modem scholars in the example of Lu Sin-yiian.


There are many other examples of this kind. The works

of the most fertile contemporary author, Yii Yiieh, from

the province of Che-kiang, have reached one hundred and

sixty good-sized volimies {Chûn tsai fang tsûan shu, 1902;

No. 1182).

There has recently been a notable development of inter-

est in archaeology. Three journals and several large serial

publications devoted to this subject are now appearing in

Shanghai. One of these, the Chung kuo ming hua tsi (No.

997, eleven numbers), i.e. Collection of Famous Paintings of

China, although its reproductions do not equal similar work

done by the Japanese, nevertheless makes most valuable

material accessible to the student of Chinese art.^^ The

publishing house Yu cheng shu ku, in Shanghai, is bringing

out a fine series of albums {Chung kuo ming hua tsi wai tsê)

in which both the single and the collected works of an artist

are illustrated. Thirty-six munbers had appeared at the end

of 191 1 (No. 998). This firm has likewise issued a large

number of facsimile reproductions of ancient rubbings and

manuscripts, the scholarly utilization of which will place

sinology on a new and soHd basis equal in strength to that of

classical philology. I secured for The Newberry Library a

complete set of these facsimiles, numbering one himdred and

sixty-three works, and relating to the Han, Sui, Tâng, Simg,

and Ylian dynasties. They are all got up in tasteful

editions to suit the requirements of book-lovers. Theachievements of Chinese tjôgraphy must not be judged

from the cheap and flimsy productions thrown broadcast on

the market to meet the small purses of the masses. In

thorough, elegant, and graceful book-making, they are still

'* The contents of the first five numbers have been analyzed by E. Chavanens

ilôung Poo, 1909, p. 515).


unsurpassed masters, and there is much in the style and

technique of their books worth imitating even by us.

In view of the pulsating Hfe animating the production of

Chinese literature in all its branches at the present time, I

cannot join in the pessimistic outcry with which W. Grube

concludes his "Geschichte der chinesischen Litteratur." I

see life and progress everywhere and trust in the future of

China. I believe that her literature will bring forth new

facts and new thoughts, and that the time will come when

it will arrest the attention of the world at large. It is hoped

that the near future may see many American scholars

taking a real interest in this hterature, and when that time

comes they will have at hand here in Chicago ample founda-

tion material for their studies and investigations.

4

I733C52481913C.lROBA

descriptive account of the collection of chinese, tibetan

Documents